Quango trio ‘waste of cash’

Three quangos have cost the state €27m since 2008, a figure that could have been reduced if they had been merged as planned three years ago

T
he state has spent €27m in three years on a trio of quangos due to have been
amalgamated in 2008. The merger of the National Qualifications Authority of
Ireland, Higher Education and Training Awards Council, and Further Education
and Training Awards Council was announced three years ago but never
completed.

Figures released to Paudie Coffey, a Fine Gael TD, show €1m a year is being
spent on rent for the three bodies, which have combined current expenditure
of about €8m a year.

Coffey has written to Brendan Howlin, the public expenditure minister, to
express concern at the high levels of rent paid by quangos, particular in
relation to their function and size. Coffey highlighted the rent paid by the
Family Mediation Service in Waterford, where a “plush office” for two staff,
open for only two and a half days a week, costs more than €40,000 annually.